Win in Reno a big deal for J.J. Henry

Published 6:52 pm, Monday, August 10, 2015

J.J. Henry celebrates after putting in to win on the second hole of sudden death during the final round of the Barracuda Championship at the Montreaux Golf and Country Club on Sunday in Reno, Nevada.

J.J. Henry celebrates after putting in to win on the second hole of sudden death during the final round of the Barracuda Championship at the Montreaux Golf and Country Club on Sunday in Reno, Nevada.

Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Win in Reno a big deal for J.J. Henry

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He had been playing well over the past month, making cuts and cashing checks, but J.J. Henry needed lightning to strike.

He wasn’t close to the Top 125 in the Fed Ex Cup points race and that meant he would have been on the outside looking in when the Fed Ex Cup playoffs start in three weeks at the Barclays. He was not close to the Top 125 on the money list and that might have meant possibly heading to Q School (for the first time in his 15-year career) or trying to keep his Tour card by finishing in the Top 50 in the Web.com Tour championship in October.

But Sunday night in Reno, Nevada, lightning struck.

Henry, who grew up in Fairfield and learned the game from his father, Ron, at The Patterson Club, holed a 15-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the second playoff hole to win the Barracuda Championship — his third career PGA Tour victory — and secure a ticket to this week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wis.

“It’s kind of been a struggle this year," Henry said in an interview with the Golf Channel. “But I really hung in there. It was tough and windy early in the day, but I was able to grind out the win.”

Henry is scheduled to tee off at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and 2 p.m. on Friday. He is grouped with Brian Harman and Adam Rainaud the first two rounds.

Text messages and a phone message to Henry’s cell were not returned.

Henry defeated Kyle Reifers on that second playoff hole. Both players birdied the 18th hole the first time and both faced eagle putts the second time. After Henry rolled his putt in from just off the green, Reifers had a chance to tie, but his putt veered off to the left.

“I knew obviously playing here that it's (the break) was kind of coming down the mountain, if you will, from the front of that green,” Henry said on the Golf Channel. “I knew there was a good chance the ball would get to the hole if I got it on line, and that's exactly what I did. It went right in the middle of the hole.

“I don't know how athletic I looked when I jumped up for joy, but it's a heck of a feeling when you make a putt like that. When you do it to win on the PGA Tour is even that much more special.”

The tournament used the Modified Stableford System, which awards eagles five points, birdies two, pars zero, bogeys lose one and double-bogeys or worse are minus three.

The 300 Fed Ex Cup points Henry received for winning, jumped him from 150th all the way to 76th and the $580,000 lifted him from 154th on the money list to 89th ($1004,267). The victory also gives him an automatic two-year exemption through 2016-17 and gets him into the 2016 Players Championship.

“It hasn’t been the best year for me, to be honest with you,” Henry said on the Golf Channel. “I’ve been fortunate enough now to be out here (on tour) for 15 straight years. I’ve had a lot of great, positive memories here. Even before winning in 2012, I had I think three, or four, top-5 finishes here.

“Hopefully, this will give me a chance now to … you know, hopefully ride that momentum, if you will. So (this will lead to) a nice little stretch of golf here to ride out the momentum.”